Shout Out to Wonderful Canadian Saints!

I received an email over the weekend that said:  

The Sisters and the Zonies

Tonight we had Sister D and Sister A along with Elder Hill and Elder K for dinner at our home.  We are so blessed to have them in our home.

Seriously, the Canadian Saints are WONDERFUL to share with the parents.  I am grateful.

Broken Record -- 9 September 2013

I'm just a broken record,

Singing the same old song.

Just a broken record,

Begging that we'll all get along.

I'm just an oldies record,

Asking you to read,

And a quiet scratched up record,

Testifying it's what you need.

I'm just a boring record,

I told you, "You could pray."

Just a smiling record,

trying to make your day.

I'm just a heartfelt record,

Scratched up, tattered, and torn

Just a solemn record,

I'm feeling pretty worn.

I am a distanced record,

Trying to do what's right.

I am a frightened record,

Who prays for strength every night.

I am a hopeful record

And every time I pray

I feel a peaceful record,

That you will be okay.

I'm just a happy record

Because He loves you, don't you see?

Just an excited record,

Because He loves you and even me.

I'm just a determined record,

Spinning round and round

Just a spirited record,

Projecting forth His sound.

I am a powerful record,

Here to do His will.

I am His chosen record,

Even if I'm ill.

I'm just a broken record,

Just a servant of the Lord,

Just a broken record,

Here to preach His Holy Word.

Well, that was a rugged first attempt at poetry in a whole year.

How are you!? Man, I'm so stinking great. :D I've been up and out of my shell and teaching and testifying.... so good.

I read through my email from last week, and man... it was awesome. Exactly what I was trying to say. :D

Have you ever thought about the name of Christ? Jehovah? It means, "I Am." When Christ talked with Moses, He told him to tell the Israelites that He, or, "I Am" is the God who sent him.

Well, that bears simple significance, I think. After all, how often do we catch ourselves saying things like, "I am an idiot" or sometimes even, "I am worthless." "I am alone." Why would Jesus Christ allow His name to be a part of such statements? Why would we even make them? Well, we make them because we are human and imperfect. And I think He allows His name to be in there, because even in those times, He wants us to know we are still His. We are His sheep. His Children. He allows His name to be in such degrading statements because He loves us enough to decend below the worst and weakest of all human frailties to be able to lift us. His Atonement is infinite and wonderful. :D

Well, this week was good. Elder K. and I are getting along well. Our zone is struggling a bit, but we'll do our best to help them out. We are going to be doing a training at ZTM tomorrow about our purpose and our wonderful callings a missionaries. There is nothing in the world---so far as I have experienced---as great and wonderful as knowing that you have been called of God to do a marvelous work and a wonder. His marvelous work and wonder. Man. :D Sooo good.

Well, I really do love you all so much. Sorry this one is short.

Rock on. Peace. Love. And Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

Amidst the Hardest Weeks of Our Lives -- 2 September 2013

Do you ever have those weeks that are really hard? Well, this was one of those. Transfers for me usually is, and I don't always know why... sad for no particular reason, hmm.... I wonder where that came from (cough satan cough). 

Well, here we are. Monday. I'm feeling amazing. Why? Sunday came. 

There are some times when we are not running at 100%. Perhaps our pride is dragging us down (as mine often does). It could be that a loved one is gone, or that we feel empty, far from home, or things just don't seem to be working the way they ought to be. Well, there are plenty of each of those times on the mission, often they all come at once. There are, however, incredible truths that cause us to feel safe, whole, and happy, even in the middle of our most trying times. 

Why is church attendance so important? What about scripture study? Why do we pray? 

God wants to prove himself to us. How? He heals us. You remember those times when you were broken? Alone? and you got down on your knees and prayed to be fixed? Or to have a friend? To give you the strength so that you can do this... so you didn't have to walk that difficult road alone? I do. 

When we were volunteering in High River, we were at our first house and we had been there for 8 hours. The last thing to do was to rip the carpet out. I was exhausted, but so was everyone else. Our knives were no longer sharp enough to cut full lengths of carpet, so we were just cutting the top, and running, ripping the soaking wet, muddy carpet off the floor and dragging it up the stairs. I remember having nothing left, my hands couldn't hold on to the carpet or the railing... but I was the only one with enough strength left to rip out the carpet. They needed us. So, I just did what I could, I prayed. Grabbed the next strip of carpet and pulled. Prayed again, and did the same. Over and over and over again until there was only one strip left to pull. Fortunately, Someone else was able to do what I wasn't. 

You know, God doesn't just wait for our tank to run our and then recharge us with the energizer bunny of Atonement. It's no magic wand... he just waits until we actually turn to Him. He blesses us in small and simple ways, and then, when we are looking, does incredible things for us so that we can do His work. Accomplish His purposes. 

In the doctrine and covenants, God tells us: "And in temporal labors thou shalt not have strength, for this is not thy calling."  And that is true, we do not have strength sufficient to accomplish his purposes. We are not God, after all. However, His grace is sufficient. Here. Now. Always. It is active and not just AFTER all we can do. Remember that God's time is one eternal round. His strength is available here, now. Salvation is now. Peace and happiness is now. (see Alma 34:32 and D&C 58: 26-27)That is our purpose in life. Consider a missionary: if God only blessed that Elder after he did all he could do, then nothing would happen until after 10:30----if it happened at all. After means that whenever we do what God asks, immediately we receive His blessings of Salvation. It is predicated on our willingness to follow Him. (See sacrament prayers D&C 20: 77&79)

Do not wait to receive hope, happiness, salvation, or perfection. We are commanded: "Thou shalt be perfect with the Lord thy God." When did we become perfect? Baptism. Perfect with Him. Meaning, if we, on the scale of perfection are only at 2 and we need to be at 100 well, the Good news(or Gospel) is, Christ suffered an infinite atonement. How big is infinity? So, take our two, and add it to infinity, how much is that? Infinity. We have access to it if we are willing. Willing means we will. And guess what, Christ knows your imperfections. He knows that you will fail. But are you willing to stand up and try again? Are you willing to give what you can and be made perfect through Him? with Him? Do you give up because perfection or consecration is too far away, and you could "never" be that person? No. Because you can. With Christ, you are. You always will be with Him unless you shut him out and give up. He will never give up on you. 

I know this is a lot like a rant... and I'm sorry. It's a lot of information that I've been learning over the past transfer or 2 as I've been studying grace, the atonement, and Jesus Christ. I just feel like so often we damn ourselves because we aren't where we think we ought to be, or because we feel like for us it isn't possible. We just sit down and stop. Maybe we're still doing what we can do, but we're not progressing. We don't think we can get there. We don't believe in ourselves.

Well, when we give up on God, is when it stops. He promised to do all He could. God never lies. He can make you perfect with Him, in Him. Then eventually many many many years later you are perfect on your own. But only through the merits, mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah. 

So when life gets hard, take heart. Because He has been there. With you. His name is imprinted on your heart. If it's not, then now is the time to be baptized again, to take the Sacrament again, to stand up and try again. 

He will help you. He will never give up on you. He loves you. 

And that is the great mystery. Why does God love us so much?

I don't know. I'm not a Father. In fact, in my personal strong language, I don't deserve salvation. But that's the point. God isn't seeking to give it to those who deserve it, because nobody does. He wants to give it to those who are willing... because He loves us all. 

Are you willing to do what it takes?

My friends, I mentioned that it had been a hard week. It has. Sometimes the only thing that will keep you going is a knowledge of the Savior... his Grace. Well, Sunday came for me. He did not give up on me, again. :D

I love you all so much. Please, don't give up. Ever. "Keep walking. Keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead. It will be alright in the end. Trust God, and believe in good things to come."

Rock on. Peace. Love. Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

p.s. if you don't feel like God is there, or if you don't believe He exists or that if He does, He's not answering you... I challenge you to lean on the testimony of the prophets and apostles, and then willingly do what they are asking you to do. Every day. You will get an answer. 

http://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-06-26-sunday-will-come?lang=eng

WHITCHICKABAM -- 27 August 2013

Okay, short and sweet, but important.

Our investigator is preparing to be baptized this weekend, and like every week just before the baptism it's been rough. She was anti'ed. Hard core. Anyway, she was texting us all day, guilt tripping us and telling us we had lied to her. Every time we sent a response we prayed before we sent it, readjusted the wording and content of the message, and prayed again; and then on confirmation, we sent it. At the end of the night it was at its worst. We continued to pray... she sent us a text... and then the Lord directed us to ask her the following question: "Is the Book of Mormon the Word of God?"

She responded, "Yes."

And then we went to bed.

This morning we got a text from her that said, "Hey."

To which we responded, "Hi." then "Can we meet with you today?"

Then she said something that almost made me cry out with both joy and heartache: "Yes :( It's going to be a hard week, isn't it?"

Here's what I've learned...When the best things are going to happen are when the hardest times come. Satan don't kick no dead dogs, my friends. When life gets hardest, it's because miracles are around the corner. In that way, struggle is a miracle.

This week may be hard. This month may be hard. Who knows? But is the Book of Mormon true? Yes.

 Is Jesus the Christ?

I boldly proclaim. "He is."

And because He is, we will always be able to stand back up.

I love you all!

Rock on, peace, love, and temple marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

"I want to be a better version of an imperfect self." Elder T -- 19 August 2013

" ...for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the ^aliving God?"

I bet you can't guess what I studied today? :D

Before I begin, I need to apologize. I like "throw down" too much. I do. I love being chastized by scripture because it makes me feel like I can. I suppose that's really ironic, but whenever I hear an Apostle, or some other Authority telling me who I am able to become I just feel enabled. I see my potential... and while I know it will be a long road trying to reach it, I also am aware that I am soooooo happy when I am pushing forward, driving for a better me. So, please forgive me if my emails are sometimes a little graphic and unrestrained. I only do it because I love you all!

The good news is, I'm not planning on throwing down. I never do. I just say what comes to mind. So, let's talk.

The miracles start last Saturday.

Saturday evening we got a text from one of our investigators, we'll call her S. S has had a lot of trouble progressing in the Gospel, because she's been experiencing a lot of opposition from her family. She also wasn't really receiving any answers because she didn't really want them. Well, she was texting us, and she was dropping us over text! The nerve! :D As soon as we saw it, we prayed and we managed to say just what the Lord needed us to say. A miracle or two later (brought by God after all we could do) and she was at church the next day. :D But wait, it gets better. Tuesday rolls around and she's been reading the Book of Mormon, and has been experiencing so much joy because of it. Fast forward an hour and a half and several prayers later and she's on date for the 31st of August. :D Look at God going again. But it doesn't end there.

You see, our zone has a goal of 6 baptisms this month. That is more than this zone has done in 2 years (maybe more, our records only go that far back). So, as soon as we set the goal as a zone, miracles began to happen, with everyone. So, we have 5 on date for baptism before the end of the month. The first of these wonderful people to enter into the Kingdom of God this month is G. His baptism was on the 17th. I'll keep you posted as we go.

Anyway, S had set her own date for baptism during our lesson on Tuesday, but was still struggling. She had the answers, but it wasn't what she had expected to experience. She wasn't sure if she had the faith. Well, at G's baptism a member bore his powerful witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ being found in this church. It was incredible (in fact, when I grow up, I would like to be like him). Well, S came up to us after the service (which she attended) and told us that she was ready, and she wasn't looking back.

Have you ever heard the Spirit say something to you like, "Boomshakalaka" or "Whitchickabam"? I have.

Miracles. Summer will be baptized on the 31st. :D God is blessing us.

So, the past week has been just a test of faith for our entire zone. Are we going to believe that God will do this, or not? Do we believe that we are able to accomplish His work, and are we willing to work for it?

Well, I believe He will. Will you?

I think that's really what it comes down to in this life. Do we believe that we can with God? Do we believe that if we will do as He asks that He will do as He promises?

Well, He will and He does. I know He does.

I have one final thought, sometimes we think we need to be perfect. Sometimes when we hear someone try to teach us we may think, "Well, I can't! I'll never get there." I just have one verse for you, "13 Thou shalt be ^aperfect with the Lord thy God." (Deuteronomy 18:13) With Him, you can make it.

Rock on. Peace. Love. Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor J. Hill

Divinity of Your Calling -- 12 August 2013

There is a beautiful talk called "The Inconvenient Messiah" given (shockingly by Jeffery R. Holland :)) He speaks of how sometimes being a diciple of Jesus Christ isn't always convenient or easy, but that it is always possible. In his talk, he spoke of Spencer W. Kimball when he received His calling as an Apostle. This is an exerpt (full talk: http://www.lds.org/ensign/1984/02/the-inconvenient-messiah?lang=eng   ):

“No peace had yet come, though I had prayed for it almost unceasingly. … I turned toward the hills. I had no objective. I wanted only to be alone. I had begun a fast. …

“My weakness overcame me again. Hot tears came flooding down my cheeks as I made no effort to mop them up. I was accusing myself, and condemning myself and upbraiding myself. I was praying aloud for special blessings from the Lord. I was telling Him that I had not asked for this position, that I was incapable of doing the work, that I was imperfect and weak and human, that I was unworthy of so noble a calling, though I had tried hard and my heart had been right. I knew that I must have been at least partly responsible for offenses and misunderstandings which a few people fancied they had suffered at my hands. I realized that I had been petty and small many times. I did not spare myself. A thousand things passed through my mind. Was I called by revelation? …

“If I could only have the assurance that my call had been inspired most of my other worries would be dissipated. … I knew that I must have His acceptance before I could go on. I stumbled up the hill and onto the mountain, as the way became rough. I faltered some as the way became steep. No paths were there to follow; I climbed on and on. Never had I prayed before as I now prayed. What I wanted and felt I must have was an assurance that I was acceptable to the Lord. I told Him that I neither wanted nor was worthy of a vision or appearance of angels or any special manifestation. I wanted only the calm peaceful assurance that my offering was accepted. Never before had I been tortured as I was now being tortured. And the assurance did not come. …

“I mentally beat myself and chastised myself and accused myself. As the sun came up and moved in the sky I moved with it, lying in the sun, and still I received no relief. I sat up on the cliff and strange thoughts came to me: all this anguish and suffering could be ended so easily from this high cliff and then came to my mind the temptations of the Master when he was tempted to cast Himself down—then I was ashamed for having placed myself in a comparable position and trying to be dramatic. … I was filled with remorse because I had permitted myself to place myself … in a position comparable, in a small degree, to the position the Saviour found Himself in when He was tempted, and … I felt I had cheapened the experiences of the Lord, having compared mine with His. Again I challenged myself and told myself that I was only trying to be dramatic and sorry for myself.

“… I lay on the cool earth. The thought came that I might take cold, but what did it matter now. There was one great desire, to get a testimony of my calling, to know that it was not human and inspired by ulterior motives, kindly as they might be. How I prayed! how I suffered! How I wept! How I struggled!” (Edward L. Kimball and Andrew E. Kimball, Jr., Spencer W. Kimball, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, Inc., 1977, pp. 192–95.)

Now at this very hour, thirty-eight years and a mountain of tumors and troubles later, this sweet and Godly man clings to life not because that life has been convenient, but because he feels there might be one more mountain to climb, one more obstacle of body or spirit that needs to be overcome. The spiritual odyssey of Andrew Kimball’s son has been anything but easy. And maybe that of your father’s son or your mother’s daughter will require patience and perseverance too.

So if your prayers don’t always seem answered, take heart. One greater than you or President Kimball cried, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani. … My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matt. 27:46.) If sometimes the harder you try, the harder it gets, take heart. So it has been with the best people who ever lived.

I just want to bear my testimony that God not only hears and answers prayers, but he doesn't leave us alone. Sometimes we battle and struggle so that we can grow closer to the Light of God.

One of Jesus Christ's names is, "I Am." and I want to testify that I know that He Is. He is real. He is our Savior. He is our Brother, our Friend, our Advocate with the Father. He is my personal companion and He has taught me how to live like Him. How to give my all. After all, why wouldn't I? In the words of Gordon B. Hinckley, "“It’s true, isn’t it? Then what else matters?”"

It is true. I know it's true. I will and have lived it, and because of this, I know it.

I don't really know what to say about this past week. It has been good. We now have a third companion named Elder Tabler. He's a great guy.

No investigators on date in our area...yet. Our Zone has a goal for 6 baptisms this month, which has never been done by the Foothills Zone before :D. The last time we checked, we had 7 on date this month. We can do it! (it's a principle of faith)

Other than that, this week has been full of teaching. It's no longer as crazy as it was before, but it is going great! We're turning our focus back to the ward to continue to build a foundation so that our investigators still have something to lean on. YSA is insane. More than 3/4 of our ward is moving away for school this weekend.

Well, that's all I have to say about that. I love you all!

The Enabling Power -- 6 August 2013

This week was something in between really really hard, and really incredible. It never seems to be that way except for when God is trying to push you farther than you've ever gone before. I think often of Samwise Gamgee saying, "If I take one more step, I'll be farther from home than I've ever been." The truth is, one step farther, often means one step closer.

To me the mission has seemed to be asking me to take a lot of "one more" steps. God has pushed me to my limits, and even farther. To the point where I often find myself by my bed in the evening in tears, ready to just quit, and the only thing really supporting me is the knowledge that my Savior will bear me up. I am reminded each day as I do one impossible thing after the other that "can't", "impossible", and "alone" are words that God doesn't ever speak to the broken hearted. This is one of the greatest miracles of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes we don't know how we'll manage to push ourselves beyond another limit. For me those limits are often mental blocks that stand in my way. Fear. Doubt. Disbelief. Sometimes it's a screaming, "You can't!" And Satan tries to tell me that I can't be the one to make the difference. I don't have the power, the strength, the will to accomplish this. "You cannot help these people. They don't care." "You'll never have anyone to teach." "One little set of missionaries can't make a difference." Well, there's the rub. Because, he's right. I can't.

But Jesus Christ can. He changed the world. Why not a ward, or a heart? You know, through Christ Jesus we can do all things.

So, one more step into the darkness. One more prayer. One more tear. One more hardship. It seems that they never end. But I testify in the name of my Lord, Master, and Savior, Jesus Christ that He can, will, and does walk with us. He carries our burdens if we will allow Him. The "one more" when given to "The One" becomes a joyous journey to perfection.

I love you all so much. Please keep taking one more step. Keep walking keep trying.

This week was wonderful. Brittany was baptized :D She's on her way to a temple recommend.

We had MLC this week (mission leadership council). Our zone is doing really really well. We've set a goal for 6 baptisms this month, and we're going to rock it out. :D There are so many great missionaries here. I'm so grateful to be a part of God's work.

Fast and testimony meeting was incredible. 3 non members besides our investigators came to church. :D God is blessing us so much.

I love you all! Have a wonderful week.

Rock on. Peace. Love. And Temple Marriage. In that order.

Elder Taylor "The Hell Shaker" Hill